1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been proposed a connector with a display function, which is comprised of a housing, a terminal unit, a shield member, and two light guides (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2007-287350).
The housing includes a bottom plate portion and side wall portions. Connecting portions for connecting the bottom plate portion and the side wall portions are formed with light guide-accommodating portions that accommodate the respective light guides. The light guide-accommodating portions extend in a direction in which the connector with the display function is fitted to a mating connector. One end of each light guide-accommodating portion reaches the front surface of the housing, and the other end thereof reaches the bottom surface of the housing. Therefore, the front end of the light guide-accommodating portion opens in the front surface of the housing, and the rear end thereof opens in the bottom surface of the housing.
The terminal unit includes a unit body, a terminal supporting portion, a plurality of terminals, a plurality of connecting pins, and a plurality of conductive wires. The unit body is made of an insulating material, such as a synthetic resin, and is substantially square in shape. The terminal supporting portion is shade-shaped, and protrudes from an upper portion of the front surface of the unit body. The terminals are bent such that they are generally V-shaped. Each terminal has one end supported by the terminal supporting portion, and the other end supported by the unit body. The connecting pins are supported by the unit body, and protrude from the bottom of the unit body. The connecting pins are inserted into a through hole of a printed circuit board, for being electrically connected to the printed circuit board. The conductive wires electrically connect the terminals and associated ones of the connecting pins. The terminal unit is accommodated in the housing between the side wall portions, and is fixed to the housing.
The shield member is made of metal, and covers the housing and the terminal unit. The shield member has a front surface formed with light guide openings that are opposed to openings each formed in one end of the light guide-accommodating portion.
Each light guide is generally prism-shaped, and is accommodated in the light guide-accommodating portion. A recess for accommodating an LED, which is a light source mounted on the printed circuit board, is formed in the rear end of the light guide in the direction of the length thereof. When the connector with the display function is mounted on the printed circuit board, the LEDs are accommodated in the associated recesses of the light guides via the openings formed in the rear ends of the light guide-accommodating portions, respectively.
The LED emits light, e.g. when the connector with the display function is connected to the mating connector, or when a signal is flowing through the connector with the display function and the mating connector. Light emitted from the LED enters the recess of the light guide, and is emitted from the foremost end face of the light guide in the direction of the length thereof. This makes it possible to detect connection between the connector with the display function and the mating connector, or detect that a signal is flowing.
In the above-described connector, since light is emitted from the foremost end face of the prism-shaped light guide in the direction of the length thereof, the area from which light is emitted is small, and hence the visibility of emitted light is low.